Spitz: A race too vital to be derailed by bombs

The cause is important. The commitment has been made. Gavin Mish will run with "The Cousin Brothers'' in Boston on May 4.

Julia Spitz/Daily News staff

The cause is important. The commitment has been made. Gavin Mish will run with "The Cousin Brothers'' in Boston on May 4.

In some ways, what happened at Monday's Boston Marathon makes the Run-Walk to Home Base all the more important.

"These are things civilians usually wouldn't have to see or deal with,'' said the Sherborn resident. "It makes you appreciate what our military is trying to do for us. It makes you want to help all you can.''

Which is why he is once again training for the 9K race that raises money for The Red Sox Foundation and Mass. General Hospital Home Base Program, which offers clinical care and support services for veterans with post-traumatic stress and brain injuries.

And why he will again be running with his younger brother, Lee Mish, who recently moved back to the area after tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and other regions in his 15 years of service, primarily as an agent with the Army's Criminal Investigation Division.

Their cousins, Waltham Police Patrolman Adam Goode, and Matthew Sandler, who lives at the Cape, round out the team tasked with running just over 5-and-a-half miles and raising a combined minimum of $3,000.

As for whether Mish's three children, ages 1 to 6, will be at Fenway Park to see them finish, "if you asked me two weeks ago, I'd say I'd love to take my kids there.'' In fact, he would want his brother's young daughter there as well, because, he said, it's important to see people coming together, despite "our different political views ... and support our military.''

But on the day after the deadly terror attack at the Marathon finish line, "now, I don't know. You want to be careful.''

Still, Mish, who co-owns Natick-based M & H Consulting, has fond memories of the team's inaugural run last year.

At 40, "I'm relatively in shape,'' and keeps active as an assistant coach for the Clark University baseball team. "I've just never been a long distance runner.'' Through his military connections, his brother had heard about the event and "he threw it out there to me and my two cousins. I laughed and said, 'No way.' The last time I ran 5 miles was never. But he told me about the cause and guilted me into it.

"Out of the four of us, I was the most nervous'' about going the distance in good time, but it turned out, "the one who was most nervous finished first,'' with 9:38-minute miles.

The personal victory was one thing. Being at Fenway was another. Then there were the messages from speakers assembled to talk to runners and their families about what the Home Base Program has meant to them.

"As a military guy, it's hard to ask for help,'' Mish recalled of one veteran's story of how post-traumatic stress disorder was affecting his life at work and at home. "Once he heard about Home Base, it allowed him to make that call. To hear him ... really makes you feel good about what you're doing.''

The program provides care and support for members of the military and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as families of deployed soldiers, regardless of ability to pay or discharge status.

"We've also provided education on the invisible wounds of war to more than 5,000 clinicians across the country and hundreds of school nurses, employers and first responders in Massachusetts,'' said Brigadier Gen. (Ret.) Jack Hammond, executive director of Home Base.

There are many reasons Mish is determined to run, in spite of what happened on Monday.

Perhaps none more important than as his brother begins the post-military chapter of his life, "I think him seeing support from his brother, his cousins, those who support the cause, is a help to him.''

Home Base is equally committed to going the distance.

"At this time, the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program has no plans to cancel'' the event, according to a statement released Tuesday evening. "Our caregivers and staff extend our thoughts and prayers to victims, their families and first responders'' at the Marathon. "As always, we will continue to work closely with city and state authorities in planning for the Run-Walk to Home Base and ensuring the safety of all participants.”

More information about the program is available at homebaseprogram.org. More information about Mish's fundraising for the Run-Walk to Home Base Presented by New Balance event can be found at runtohomebase.org/2013runtohomebase/GavinMish.

Julia Spitz can be reached at 508-626-3968 or jspitz@wickedlocal.com. Follow tweets at twitter.com/SpitzJ_MW.